North Chatham News
Special Edition - Plan B
We are so excited to welcome back our Pre-K - 2nd and Extended Content Standards Jaguars very soon! We have some new procedures and guidelines in our school to make sure that all students are safe and are able to learn! Please check out the video above that outlines how parts of our day will look out and how to prepare students for their first days back!
At the September 29th Board of Education meeting, The Chatham County School Board voted to begin in-person instruction for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students, Extended Content Standards students, and students in preschool. In-person instruction will begin on October 19th. K-2 students will come to school 2 days a week while also continuing to learn remotely 3 days a week. Students that were signed up for CCS Virtual Academy will continue with remote learning 5 days a week, but in a different capacity. For students in grades 3-5, nothing will change. They will stay in Plan C and continue learning remotely with their homeroom teacher and a weekly learning plan.
Take a look at the infographic in this link. The illustration shows how students will attend school on campus some days and off campus other days in Plan B. As your children return to in person learning, their daily schedule will look different when they are at school from when they are at home. Teachers will continue to use the same digital platforms that they have been using in Plan C for remote learning days in Plan B. However, the schedule for your child’s remote learning plan will look different.
At this time, there are no changes regarding students in grades 3rd - 5th. Students in grades 3 - 5 will remain in Plan C -- they will continue to learn remotely from home five days a week by following the Learning Plans emailed each week by their homeroom teachers. Letters were mailed Wednesday, October 7th that shared Group A and Group B assignments with all (K-5) families. This was for informational purposes only for students in grades 3-5.
CCS Parent/Guardian Attestation-COVID Symptom Screening Form
Here is the English Parent Attestation Form: click here
Here is the Spanish Parent Attestation Form: click here
MATERIAL PICK UP - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15TH
Thursday, October 15th from 2:00pm - 5:00pm we will have staff poised at the school to assist with back to school pick up needs. All families with Pre-K, K, 1st and 2nd grade and Extended Content Standards students that are returning for in person instruction on October 19th, please plan to drop by the school on Thursday from 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm to pick up masks, new car rider tags, bus route information and a hard copy of our attestation form. Please make plans to come by and pick up these important items that will help ensure a smooth start on Monday, October 19th!
Pre-K and Extended Content Standard Families - please come to the gate/parking lot by the playground to pick up your materials.
Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Families - please come through the car rider line to pick up your materials.
Plan B Students
We are so excited to welcome back your children into the building next week! While we know things will look a little different, we are fully prepared to keep the students safe, engaged, and learning! Here is some more information regarding Plan B:
- If your child has a school issued laptop, they will be required to bring it back and forth to school fully charged each day. We cannot give your child another computer to "borrow" for the day while in the building, and they will need it for the days they are doing remote learning at home.
- If your child does not have a school issued laptop and has been using a personal device during Plan C, we will have a laptop ready for them to use while they are in the building that they will not share with other students. However, they will not be allowed to take this laptop home for remote learning days. They will still need to use a home device on remote learning days.
- Teachers will only be sending home Learning Plans for the days the students are not in the building. If you are Group A, your Learning Plan will contain asynchronous work for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you are Group B, your Learning Plan will contain asynchronous work for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
- There will not be any direct instruction Zooms on the days your child is learning remotely. The teachers will include videos and assignments for the students to watch and complete independently. This work will directly relate to the material that was learned in the building.
- K-2 teachers will continue to use the Seesaw platform for these assignments.
- District purchased tools such as Freckle and iReady will continued to be used for remote learning days as these tools are differentiated. Your child's diagnostic results were used to create individualized pathways in reading (Freckle) and math (IReady) for your child.
- If reading specialists, EC teachers, ESL teachers, and/or the AIG teacher were already supporting your child, they will still be working with your students. They will reach out to the families they currently work with to share about how they will continue to support your child.
Morning Meeting Zooms: While there will be no direct instruction Zooms on remote learning days, your child will still have the option to connect with their class during morning meeting each day they are not in the building. This is a time in which teachers are building and maintaining class community, working on social emotional lessons, and reinforcing math concepts with calendar work. The times and links for these Zooms will be included on your child's weekly Learning Plan.
Virtual Academy
If your K-2 child is signed up for the CCS Virtual Academy, he/she will begin using the Edmentum Platform on Monday, October 19th. Your child will no longer be following a teacher created Learning Plan. By Friday, the district will email a parent letter with important information for all Virtual Academy families. Here is some more information regarding the Calvert Curriculum that K-5 students will be using within the Edmentum Platform:
Getting Started: Here are some very short but incredibly helpful videos that you and your student should watch together to familiarize yourselves with Virtual Academy and what their learning will look like while using Edmentum:
Video: How Students Use their Suggested Daily Schedule. The "Suggested Daily Schedule" within Edmentum will replace the Learning Plan that your child used during Plan C with their teacher.
First Week: When your student logs into Edmentum the first day and accesses their Suggested Daily Schedule, you will notice that many of the first assignments are a "Getting Started Lesson" link. There is a different Getting Started Lesson for each course your child is enrolled in. It is important to complete the "Getting Started" lessons and watch each video for each course. These videos will walk you through the all the important information for each subject.
Parent/"Learning Guide" Information: The adult working with your child at home as they use the Edmentum Platform will be referred to as the "Learning Guide". This could be the parent or guardian, or a tutor or babysitter. Parents will have their own login information. When parents/Learning Guides login, they will have access to "Teaching Notes" which will help you know how to work through the lesson and will give you answers to questions/problems. Here is some information to help the adults understand what the Calvert Curriculum is and how to support your child during Virtual Academy:
NCE Support and Connection: Each day your child's teacher will offer two Zoom opportunities to Virtual Academy students.
- All the virtual academy students in your child's class will be able to connect with their Plan B classmates during morning meeting each day via Zoom. This is a time in which teachers are building and maintaining class community, working on social emotional lessons, and reinforcing math concepts with calendar work.
- In addition to morning meeting, all Virtual Academy students will have the opportunity to do a Zoom check in with their classroom teacher. This will be a chance to ask questions about the work on Edmentum.
- On Wednesdays, your child will also have an opportunity to Zoom with their teacher to work in a small group and/or have help sessions.
- While Virtual Academy students will have assigned courses in PE/Health and Art in Edmentum, NCE's specials teachers will also be offering asynchronous work and optional Zooms.
- These Zooms are optional. The days, times, and links for the Zooms will be communicated by your classroom teacher in their weekly newsletters this weekend.
Volunteers & Visitors
Visitors or volunteers are unable to be in the building at this time. Virtual and/or telephone meetings with families and other guests will be used to the extent appropriate. Please plan to use the bus or car rider area for arrival and dismissal daily. With students at school for in person learning only two days a week, instructional time is precious. Please make every effort to arrive at school on time and leave your child at school for the entire school day. If your child is late or needs to leave early, please follow the steps below:
Late Students: (If you child arrives after 7:55, please park and come to the front office.)
With your masks on, come to the front door and ring the bell.
Someone from the office will come to the front door to assist you with checking your child in for the day.
Students will have their temperatures taken. Fever free students (less than 100.4) may enter the building and parents return to the car. Fevers above 100.4 will need to return to their car and have their temperature taken again in 10 minutes.
Early Student Pick Up: (Parents who are checking students out prior to 2:55)
Please park in the gym parking lot (to avoid bus traffic) and come to the front office
Ring the bell and tell the office who your child is and who the teacher is
Wait outside
Your child will be brought to you at the front doors
You will need to sign them out with the person who brings your child to you
Masks:
Car Rider Procedures:
To ensure social distancing requirements and daily symptom screenings are met at NCE, all students will arrive to campus on the school bus or through the carpool lane. Carpool Arrival begins at 7:35AM. In an effort to support students, we will have several staff members assisting our students to class after they exit their vehicle.
- With your masks on, pull up to a carpool stop where a staff member is standing and wait inside your car. Students will not get out right away.
- On the first day, all students will need to have a completed CCS Attestation Form. Forms will be given out at materials pick day and are shared electronically below.
- Students will have their temperature taken by staff member.
- Fever free students (less than 100.4) may exit the car. Fevers above 100.4 will pull up to the overflow spot and have their temperature taken again in 10 minutes.
- Students needing breakfast may pick it up at a kiosk at carpool
- Students will then enter the building at the back of the school and will walk on the right side of the hallway to class.
- Students should follow the markings on the floor to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.
Bus Procedures:
- Students must have a mask on to get on the bus.
- On the first day, all students will need to have a completed CCS Attestation Form. Forms will be given out at materials pick day and are shared electronically below.
- Upon arrival at school, students will get their temperature taken by a staff member.
- Fever free students (less than 100.4) may enter the building.
- Students who have a temperature above 100.4 will be held in the gym lobby and parents will be called to pick them up.
- Students needing breakfast may pick up at kiosk along the bus path.
- Students will enter the building through the front door and walk on right side of hallway to class.
- Students should follow the yellow markings on the floor to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.
Here is the English Parent Attestation Form: click here
Here is the Spanish Parent Attestation Form: click here
DISMISSAL:
Desks will be set up six feet apart. Markings are in place throughout the building to help remind students to stay six feet apart.
School Nutrition:
Linked below is a survey from CCS School Nutrition Services. In order to plan for meals for in-school learning, at-home learning, and virtual learning, we are asking you to fill out a brief survey if you plan on taking advantage of CCS meal services now through December 2020. The survey itself has additional information.
A few points of clarification regarding the survey. You do not need to answer the final question unless you student is returning to school under Plan B beginning October 19.
Coronavirus Relief Act:
On September 4, the Coronavirus Relief Act 3.0, which was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. The law includes the Extra Credit Grant program to be administered by the North Carolina Department of Revenue.
According to the law, the purpose of the program is to “use funds from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to help families with qualifying children in North Carolina by providing economic support to assist with virtual schooling and child-care costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The grant amount is $335.00 total for each eligible individual, even if the individual has two or more qualifying children.
For more information, click here.